Kaikoura: Whale Watching Flight
Description
Discover Kaikōura’s world renowned sperm whales & marine life with an unforgettable Whale Watching Flight. From above, you’ll have the ultimate vantage point to admire these majestic creatures in their natural habitat, fully appreciating their incredible size & beauty. Along the way, we may also spot dolphins, humpback whales, blue whales, orca, & other passing cetaceans. Your flight will also treat you to breathtaking views of Kaikōura’s dramatic mountains meeting the vibrant seas- a truly unforgettable sight. For over 30 years, Air Kaikōura’s friendly team has been providing high quality experiences, combining expert knowledge with exceptional service. While we do everything possible to locate whales, they are wild animals, & sightings cannot be guaranteed. Refunds or rescheduling are not available if whales are not sighted, but we’re confident you’ll love the stunning scenery & the unique opportunity to experience Kaikōura’s incredible landscapes & marine environment from above.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Aerial Whale and Dolphin watching - for a 30 minute flight, please allocate a full hour to allow us to adjust your start time to give you the best chance of seeing marine mammals
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- If you are over 120kg, please contact us. Unfortunately we are unable to provide refunds if you arrive and exceed our weight limits, please call us in advance to discuss if you have any concerns.
Reviews(109)
It was amazing experience and i would do it again and the staff was so friendly and helpful so we were not scared at all
Thanks for your review Michael. Will pass the kind words onto the team!
We had an amazing flight saw 2 whales and large pod of dolphins. Booked via tripadvisor and it was priced and charged in USD which wasn’t apparent until the email confirmation arrived so the great price wasn’t so good when converted to NZD 🤦♀️
Awesome to hear you saw some whales. Appreciate the review.
After researching the boat versus aerial pros and cons, we are so glad we chose to fly with Air Kaikoura. Seasickness aside, you wouldn't see much from the boats. It was great to appreciate the full size of the whales and dolphin pods from the air. The team were fantastic from start to finish including answering multiple queries. They are very respectful of not hanging around the whales for too long as well.
Thank you for sharing your experience, delighted to hear you enjoyed flying with us.
Decided to fly after our boat was cancelled due to poor weather. Our flight was then cancelled aswell however the staff organised another flight specifically for us at the earliest opportunity. Our flight was great, the staff were really nice and friendly and we saw dolphins and sperm whales.
Thank you for sharing, so happy to hear we were able to get you up on a flight once the weather allowed. Thank you for flying with us!
The experience is exhilarating and I highly recommend it. If you go, just be aware that the guy talking to you is also flying the plane so he’s not able to provide much context. If the company wants to offer an even more rewarding and worthwhile experience they might consider including a few minutes of whale info during the pre-flight safety orientation.
Thanks for flying with us. All of our pilots provide inflight commentary, however they are also required to operate the radios to keep in touch with other aircrafts and sea vessels. We appreciate your feedback.
About to board and last minute cancelled due to winds.after driving two hours. Very disappointing! Advanced notice would have been nice.
Hi Daniel, the safety of our flights is paramount and we will not fly in unsafe conditions. At the time, we were anticipating being able to proceed with your flight, which is why we were preparing to board. Unfortunately, there was a sudden and unexpected change in the wind conditions right at that moment, leaving us no opportunity to provide advance notice. While we know this doesn’t lessen the inconvenience, these decisions are always made with safety in mind.
The flight was cancelled on site due to too low a cloud. An alternative flight the next day could not be offered, nowhere else was it possible to get a flight let alone a boat tour.
Low cloud cover can create unsafe flying conditions. While we always hope conditions will improve, on this occasion it wasn’t safe to operate. These decisions are never made lightly and are always based on aviation safety requirements. Unfortunately the weather is out of our control.
Excellent staff customer service. The flying experience & views were definitely worth the time & money. Would definitely recommend & do it again.
Thanks so much for flying with us! We are happy to hear you enjoyed your flight over beautiful Kaikoura!
Amazing experience! We were lucky to see a sperm whale for a few minutes before he dived again, our pilot timed it perfectly. It’s a squeeze to get into the plane but once you’re in it’s fine and you get a great view and useful commentary from the pilot. Highly recommended!
Thank you for sharing! Awesome we were able to catch up with a whale for you and the view of Kaikoura from above truly is special . Thank you for flying with us!!
The day started with a 10:00 pickup from our hotel and a quick transfer to the airfield. Then bad news - there was low cloud over the bay and flights were temporarily grounded. They offered to transfer us to a later flight at the end of the day when conditions improved. But we had to leave just after lunch and so couldn't wait that long. No problem! They arranged a special flight for us in a 4-seater plane at lunch time when the cloud had cleared. We had great flight and saw a sperm whale at close range. Ethan our pilot was great and very knowledgeable. He even gave us a lift back to Kaikoura so we could catch our afternoon train. Thanks to all the team.
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience, we are delighted to have been able to get you up to enjoy Kaikoura despite the initial weather and sighting the sperm whale from above is a pretty memorable experience! I will be sure to pass on your kind words to Ethan. Thank you again for flying with us, we hope to welcome you back sometime!
